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Peter Beardsley is eagerly looking forward to playing again at St James' Park and facing Thomas Craig again.
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Former Newcastle United striker Peter Beardsley is relishing the chance to play at St James' Park for the first time in years.
Beardsley was talking after the Legends had held their final training session before The Match and said he was looking forward to taking on Celebrity central defender Thomas Craig again.
"Tommy was fantastic last year, he really was," the former England player said, adding he was pleased Alec Stewart was not playing this time.
"I'm hoping from a selfish point of view that Alec Stewart is going to be a real miss for them because he was fantastic last year," Beardsley continued.
"No disrespect to Davey Jones who I believe is going to play there, but hopefully he won't be as good as Alec. He may well be better but I hope not."
Beardsley thought the extra training the Legends have put in this year was the right way to approach the game on Sunday after last year's close call when the ex-professionals won by a late goal.
"It's not going to be easy. We're not stupid, we'll give them the respect they deserve. I don't think we didn't give them respect last year, I think we maybe didn't give respect in terms of preparation."
With regard to playing again at St James' Park, Beardsley was understandably excited to be back in his home city.
"It's a special day for me, you know. I'm from this area, I was born three miles from St James' Park. I never got the chance to play since it became 52,000, so tomorrow is a big day for me."
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